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BRE Trust helps position micro wind turbines

07 May 2010

A report with guidance on the positioning of micro wind turbines on roofs of tall buildings has been announced by BRE Trust.

BRE Trust, the owner of UK centre of expertise on the built environment, BRE, says the report Building-Mounted Micro-Wind Turbines on High-Rise and Commercial Buildings, could help maximise the potential for wind power generation.

Published by IHS BRE Press, the report is based on a study that characterises wind conditions over a range of building heights from 15 m to 80 m, and provides guidance on the most effective height and location for wind turbine installations.

UK government policy (Planning Policy Statement PPS22) requires that all future non-residential or mixed-use developments above 1000 m2 will be expected to provide at least 10% of their energy requirements from on-site renewable energy generation.

Wind energy produced from building-mounted wind turbines could be expected to provide a proportion of this renewable energy, BRE says.

“There is an increasing trend to mount wind turbines on the roofs of tall buildings, where they have the potential to generate useful levels of energy due to the advantages from increased wind resource at these heights and the reduced shelter and turbulence from surrounding buildings,” says Paul Blackmore, Ph.D., Author of the report.

“However, without guidance, it is not easy for planners to determine the most effective locations for placing wind turbines. As a result, this potential renewable energy source is not always used most effectively, and inappropriate placement can lead to an ineffective installation with severely limited power generation possibilities.”

The micro wind study

The study measured wind conditions made over the roofs of five buildings (at model scale) in the BRE wind tunnel representing a range of typical high- and mid-rise buildings.

The mean wind speed and turbulence intensity were measured at approximately 1200 locations over each roof for a range of heights and wind directions.

A primary objective of the study was to develop a simplified model that can be used by building owners and developers for siting micro wind turbines on building roofs to optimise power generation.

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